The present invention relates generally to information processing systems and more particularly to a methodology and implementation for locating objects being shipped between locations.
The shipping industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years. Much of the increased business is related to the business of the Internet and the ability to order items from websites using the Internet and having the ordered items delivered directly to the buyer""s home. Many of the items ordered are quite expensive and the value of the items may exceed several thousand dollars, especially for computer systems, monitors and subsystems. In addition to large articles, important documents are also being shipped door-to-door as a standard method of shipping to insure timely and expedient delivery. With such shipments, it is both useful and important to be able to track the shipped article and be able to locate the article at any point during its journey from a sender to a receiver. As used herein, the terms xe2x80x9cshipperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9csenderxe2x80x9d are used interchangeably and refer to any entity sending, or contracting to send, an item from one location to another.
In the past, shipping companies have been able to track such merchandise to some extent. For example, a customer may know if the merchandise has been picked-up from the sender""s location, or whether the shipped merchandise has arrived at a warehouse at the receiver""s location. Generally, however, there has been no way to accurately know the precise location of shipped merchandise at points in-between origin and destination locations. Such tracking systems usually always require the input of data by a sender""s agent in order to be able to track items being sent. For example, articles may have a bar code which may be scanned as items are logged into various locations along the way.
Thus there is a need for an improved tracking methodology which enables an interested party to determine a precise location of an article being sent at any point along the route from a sender to a receiver.
A method and implementing system are provided in which an item being sent from a sender to a receiver includes an item locator device for locating the item during transit. In an exemplary embodiment, the item locator device includes a wireless telephone function coupled to an item location function. The location function is able to determine the location of the item being sent through a Global Positioning System (GPS) or through another location-determining system such as a wireless telephone network. The telephone portion of the locator device, is operable to return location information to a requester when the locator device telephone circuitry is called by the requester. In an example, a sender maintains a database at the sender""s server containing information concerning each shipping transaction. A requester is enabled to log-on to a sender""s website and access the database to determine the last location and time of query for the item being shipped. The requester may access the sender""s database directly for the requested location information or initiate a call from the sender to the item being shipped to update the sender""s database at the time of the call. In another embodiment, a requester is able to call the item locator device directly for the location information.